Road Surface

The State Highway Administration will close parts of Crain Highway between 5th Avenue and Hiddenbrook Drive in Glen Burnie next week to resurface the 1.5-mile stretch of road, an SHA spokeswoman said.Crews will close one lane at a time between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays, the spokeswoman said. Lanes might be closed on weekends and at night. Signs, flag people and traffic cones will guide drivers through the area.The $768,000 project should be completed by late fall, the SHA said.P. Flanigan & Sons Inc. of Baltimore will mill the road surface, then patch and resurface.

On Sunday morning, I ventured out to do my grocery shopping before the snow storm arrived. Being a native of Western New York, I favor the familiar offerings of Wegmans, so I have little difficulty justifying the drive from Baltimore to Columbia every week. As I was leaving the store, the snow had begun in Columbia, and I anticipated some slow going for the drive home. I progressed up Route 29, and the snow became heavier to the point of obscuring the lane lines. People from snowy areas would not call this heavy snow since visibility was still fair, but it was persistent and a healthy amount creating challenging driving conditions.

Oil believed to have spilled from an oil truck today forced Anne Arundel County police to close a 1.5-mile section of Ritchie Highway in both directions for more than 90 minutes.Police discovered the oil about 8:20 a.m. and said it had made the busy road "as slick as ice." Several minor skidding accidents were reported.Police stopped traffic from 11th Street in Brooklyn Park north to the Baltimore city line, creating major traffic problems for north county motorists.Traffic was permitted to cross the highway, but it remained closed to north-south traffic until just after 10 a.m.County sand trucks were called in to treat the road surface.

Howard County crews are scheduled to start work Monday on a project to repair and repave Bonnie Branch Road in Ellicott City. The project follows recent work to stabilize embankment along Bonnie Branch, and county officials say the roadwork involves making repairs to the road surface and also drainage areas. Weather permitting, the project is expected to be completed by late October. Bonnie Branch Road will generally remain open to traffic during the project, but occasional lane shifts are expected in the work zone.

On Sunday morning, I ventured out to do my grocery shopping before the snow storm arrived. Being a native of Western New York, I favor the familiar offerings of Wegmans, so I have little difficulty justifying the drive from Baltimore to Columbia every week. As I was leaving the store, the snow had begun in Columbia, and I anticipated some slow going for the drive home. I progressed up Route 29, and the snow became heavier to the point of obscuring the lane lines. People from snowy areas would not call this heavy snow since visibility was still fair, but it was persistent and a healthy amount creating challenging driving conditions.

Howard County crews are scheduled to start work Monday on a project to repair and repave Bonnie Branch Road in Ellicott City. The project follows recent work to stabilize embankment along Bonnie Branch, and county officials say the roadwork involves making repairs to the road surface and also drainage areas. Weather permitting, the project is expected to be completed by late October. Bonnie Branch Road will generally remain open to traffic during the project, but occasional lane shifts are expected in the work zone.

The problem: Unused railroad tracks crossing Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills have led to deterioration of the road surface, slowing down traffic. The backstory: Two readers contacted Watchdog about a situation on Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills. Yellow-and-black signs alert drivers to a railroad crossing and a dip in the road just north of the intersection with Owings Mills Boulevard, near Garrison Forest Plaza shopping center. "It is one terrible bump," said Philip Schindler of Reisterstown, who contacted Watchdog about the problem.

The problem: Motorists fail to follow a new traffic pattern on a Baltimore County roadway. The back story: You can take a lane away, but that doesn't mean that drivers will obey. Eastbound Green Summit Road off Greenspring Avenue narrows from two lanes to one lane between Diana Road and Diamond Crest Court. It widens again to two lanes just east of Diamond Crest. But the remains of the old, dashed white lane stripes are still visible, and two signs prior to the lane shift don't call enough attention to the new pattern, said Gail Zlotowitz, who drives on that street on her way home from work.

Most weekday mornings, late spring through late summer, Terry Weller and George Foster climb into a bright yellow truck and fire up lasers, high-definition cameras and a bank of digital recorders before hitting the road. Weller and Foster are two of the state's pothole detectives. Their laboratory on wheels is a $1.3 million truthmobile from which asphalt cannot hide its faults. Cracks, bumps and ruts lose their anonymity to ARAN - the Automatic Road Analyzer - a tool that finds trouble before it finds motorists' front tires and suspensions.

Most weekday mornings, late spring through late summer, Terry Weller and George Foster climb into a bright yellow truck and fire up lasers, high-definition cameras and a bank of digital recorders before hitting the road. Weller and Foster are two of the state's pothole detectives. Their laboratory on wheels is a $1.3 million truthmobile from which asphalt cannot hide its faults. Cracks, bumps and ruts lose their anonymity to ARAN - the Automatic Road Analyzer - a tool that finds trouble before it finds motorists' front tires and suspensions.

The problem: Motorists fail to follow a new traffic pattern on a Baltimore County roadway. The back story: You can take a lane away, but that doesn't mean that drivers will obey. Eastbound Green Summit Road off Greenspring Avenue narrows from two lanes to one lane between Diana Road and Diamond Crest Court. It widens again to two lanes just east of Diamond Crest. But the remains of the old, dashed white lane stripes are still visible, and two signs prior to the lane shift don't call enough attention to the new pattern, said Gail Zlotowitz, who drives on that street on her way home from work.

The problem: Unused railroad tracks crossing Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills have led to deterioration of the road surface, slowing down traffic. The backstory: Two readers contacted Watchdog about a situation on Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills. Yellow-and-black signs alert drivers to a railroad crossing and a dip in the road just north of the intersection with Owings Mills Boulevard, near Garrison Forest Plaza shopping center. "It is one terrible bump," said Philip Schindler of Reisterstown, who contacted Watchdog about the problem.

By Lorraine Gingerich and Lorraine Gingerich,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | June 28, 2001

RESIDENTS OF the Trotter Road area in Clarksville were treated to a display of Mother Nature's power Saturday when they found that Trotter Road had flooded and the roadway had caved in. The destruction, which took place at a culvert bridge that had recently been repaired, left a portion of Trotter Road impassable for four days. "We had a lot of flooding in three hours, causing undermining of the soil," said Fred Simmons, senior administrative analyst for the Howard County Bureau of Highways.

The State Highway Administration will close parts of Crain Highway between 5th Avenue and Hiddenbrook Drive in Glen Burnie next week to resurface the 1.5-mile stretch of road, an SHA spokeswoman said.Crews will close one lane at a time between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays, the spokeswoman said. Lanes might be closed on weekends and at night. Signs, flag people and traffic cones will guide drivers through the area.The $768,000 project should be completed by late fall, the SHA said.P. Flanigan & Sons Inc. of Baltimore will mill the road surface, then patch and resurface.

By Lorraine Gingerich and Lorraine Gingerich,SPECIAL TO THE SUN | June 28, 2001

RESIDENTS OF the Trotter Road area in Clarksville were treated to a display of Mother Nature's power Saturday when they found that Trotter Road had flooded and the roadway had caved in. The destruction, which took place at a culvert bridge that had recently been repaired, left a portion of Trotter Road impassable for four days. "We had a lot of flooding in three hours, causing undermining of the soil," said Fred Simmons, senior administrative analyst for the Howard County Bureau of Highways.

Several major Baltimore-area highways have suffered an epidemic of shallow, gravel-filled potholes this winter, leading to numerous cracked windshields, chipped paint and rattled motorists.State highway engineers, who are scrambling to repair more than a dozen stretches of road, blame the problem on an asphalt surface material that has begun to deteriorate at least a year before it was supposed to.Greg Horton, manager of Smith's Auto Glass in Towson, said yesterday that the pitted pavement has been good for business.

Oil believed to have spilled from an oil truck today forced Anne Arundel County police to close a 1.5-mile section of Ritchie Highway in both directions for more than 90 minutes.Police discovered the oil about 8:20 a.m. and said it had made the busy road "as slick as ice." Several minor skidding accidents were reported.Police stopped traffic from 11th Street in Brooklyn Park north to the Baltimore city line, creating major traffic problems for north county motorists.Traffic was permitted to cross the highway, but it remained closed to north-south traffic until just after 10 a.m.County sand trucks were called in to treat the road surface.

Several major Baltimore-area highways have suffered an epidemic of shallow, gravel-filled potholes this winter, leading to numerous cracked windshields, chipped paint and rattled motorists.State highway engineers, who are scrambling to repair more than a dozen stretches of road, blame the problem on an asphalt surface material that has begun to deteriorate at least a year before it was supposed to.Greg Horton, manager of Smith's Auto Glass in Towson, said yesterday that the pitted pavement has been good for business.